Scholarships, prizes and dean’s awards
Heather Robinson, head of campus
The annual Orange Charles Sturt University (CSU) Foundation scholarship ceremony last week was a
celebration of our students’ achievements and ambition.
Professor Jo-Anne Reid, representing the Charles Sturt University Council, welcomed scholarship
donors, students and guests to the ceremony.
Professor Reid thanked the donors for their commitment to education and for helping CSU students
realise their full potential.
“It is because of scholarship donors that the Charles Sturt Foundation is able to award more than
$1.1 million in scholarships and prizes this year – a truly wonderful outcome not only for our
beneficiaries and their families, but for the very communities in which these students will go on to
live and work,” said Professor Reid.
“We know that more than 70 percent of our students are the first in their immediate family to
attend university. By increasing access to higher education for rural and regional students we can
continue to improve their economic prosperity, life expectancy and health and wellbeing, as well as
that of their families and future generations.”
Leia Chapman (Bachelor of Agricultural Business Management) was awarded both a Rural Australia
Foundation scholarship and the Ian Smith Memorial Prize. Leia thanked scholarship donors on behalf
of all student recipients, saying the donors ‘play a vital role in our academic journeys’.
Leia reflected on the broader benefits of being awarded a scholarship or prize.
“I want to help others achieve their goals and dreams of being farmers. The scholarship and prize are
going to help arm me with knowledge and industry experience outside of my degree,” said Leia, “But
it’s not just me that will be helping other people; whether you are a physiotherapist, a dentist, a
clinical scientist or an eco-agriculturalist we are all working towards careers helping others.”
As well as scholarships, Dean’s awards for academic excellence were presented to around 90
students by Professor Tim Wess, executive dean of the faculty of science.
CSU congratulates all the scholarship, prize and dean’s award winners.
Photo (supplied by Frank Colzato Photographer): Leia Chapman accepting the Ian Smith Memorial
Prize from Mr Tony Smith.